Emergency blog - snow joke!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

London is reeling under at least three inches of snow. Your intrepid reporter was at Sainsbury's yesterday night in the last flurry, stocking up on non-perishable foods and toastable bread in case she was unable to open the door this morning. So were a couple of hundred other people. Ah, the siege mentality.

And what a sight met Londoners' eyes this morning. We drew back our curtains on the same three inches of snow that fell yesterday and not a flake more. Pretty . . . er, well, just pretty.

Well, by 10am it was time to sort out the snow queens from the the slush puppies. Having put on 14 layers of clothing, three scarves, the obligatory woolly 'at, and rescued her gloves from beneath the feline glove-warmer, your reporter struggled in a death-defying trek to the post office up the road. Terrifyingly, other people were taking the same risks, in spite of the Dire Warnings yesterday about bad weather (in at least one London office, a group of five staff spent their lunchbreak on a roof terrace building a snowman, that's how bad it was) . . .

Look, I can't keep it up. Yes, it has snowed here in London but not much, at least not yet. Enough to make you grateful for a warm home and warm clothes.

And that you're not a small bird.

I walked to one of the local parks and took some photos. Comparisons with Breughel are unnecessary thank you. He did it first and best and in oil paint, after all. There were a dozen yetis, some still under construction by artists of all ages.

Only one three-year-old was manifestly unimpressed by the snow, owing to the closure of the children's playground for safety reasons. The rest were perfectly happy playing with the snow. The carrot on this bench gave me a moment's pause, then I realised I was looking not at a carrot, but at a nose.

I saw several semi-freddo dads lugging kids on sledges.

Happiest were the dogs.

It doesn't take much to make a dog revert to wolf and the ones that I saw were reverting so fast it made my head spin. There was a convocation in the middle of what is normally a cricket pitch, chasing one another round, spinning off, returning to bowl one another over and in at least one case LBW.

I'm sure it'll wash off.

Once it thaws.

I was contemplating Epping forest in the snow but there is genuinely more forecast so I'm going to wait till the sky is clear. At the moment we have thick soft unbroken lilac cloud.

SENIMMO - I bet most folks who read your response don't know what broomball is:). You will need to explain. My husband is an ex player. Having a large Canadian population in Southern Maine, we had a league. However anyone outside Maine I've ever met has never heard of it. Those suction cups come in mighty handy on the ice lol. I bet CHICCHANTAL would love a pair for her winter walks. And welcome back CHICCHANTAL - I am among your legions of fans and I was missing your entertaining and beautiful blogs. They truly are a bright spot in my day.

We got about 5 more inches yesterday. Finally getting snow in our area. It's been much more mild, except for the week of below zero weather. Normally in our area we see about 130-150 inches from November to April/May.

But I always think the same thing about the poor animals. Glad I'm not out there with them! We got snow around here recently, and my mother kept going out to the back yard to knock the ice out of the bird bath and pour in hot water. All the birds LOVED having some nice hot water to warm up by!

I love your blog- you are such a picturesque writer- could completely imagine what you were seeing and doing. Since my family seems to live on old BBC comedies- appreciate the reports of what you see and do.

I totally enjoyed this today! I live in North Carolina where we were pelted (literally) with ice yesterday. My area was coated with about an inch of the stuff. The sun finally came out this afternoon and has transformed it all into a watery mess. The ground is now all soggy and muddy. I enjoyed looking at your pictures of the beautiful snow!

I live in middle tennessee and it rained ice over the morning . last week we had wonderful looking iced branches silvery in the cloudy light...my chainlink fenced was iced and the bridges and overpasses were iced...it sure was beautiful...but I didn't drive in it...thanks for the pics

It looks like we have had a lot more snow than you (here in the West Midlands) with more to come. We had about a foot in total, over the course of a week - with some melting just a little before being replaced but still the over reaction to every new flurry was comical. Ermahgerd tha snooow!

Our roving intrepid reporter is back. Thank you so muchfor sharing the beautiful walk .. I am wiping my brow here asit is so hot and humid and I am pretending I am there playing in the snow to cool off. I'm glad you're back as I was somehow unsubscribed from your blogs.

Thank you so much for the weather report. We haven't had snow here is a couple of weeks but there is still snow on the ground because it has been so cold. It finally warmed up a bit toward the end of last week. Hubby & I walked on Saturday and I'm going to try to walk a bit today if it isn't too muddy. I didn't wear my boots so I'll have to see.

Hi CHICCHANTEL,Wow is it great to read your blogs again and see your photo trips. We are once again covered with snow here in eastern Nova Scotia. Third time in 6 days that we need to be plowed out. Only 57 more days until spring.......

So jealous. Where I live ("Hampton Roads," Virginia, USA) is a delightfully toasty 31oF (-.5C) today and we have no snow! At these temperatures, I would like some snow, a warm house, fuzzy socks and steaming mug of tea that never gets cold. Make sure you have plenty of milk and sliced bread!

Here in Michigan, in the US, it's a toasty 5°F!Today, I am wearing a pair of fleece-lined leggings, a pair of sweatpants, and a pair of jeans over those; a t-shirt (my workout shirt), a thermal undershirt over that, and soon enough, a work shirt.

I'll also be donning a thick hoodie, a peacoat, a hat, a scarf, a pair of stretchy gloves, my Christmas mittens...and my boots, of course!

I was in London over the summer for a week and it rained almost every day. Everyone we ran into kept saying it was so unlike the normal weather they had there. Guess it's going to be that way with winter to. Enjoy it though it looks like so much fun.

So glad you are back! Missed your reports on your walks. Thanks for sharing your walk and photos. Here in S. Japan, it is definitely not warm or hot now, but definitely no snow-ever (only on the mainland north of us). It is quite chilly in my apt as we have no furnace or heat-only a space heater that I turn off before going to bed.

Thank you for your pictures of the snow in London. I gather it's quite unusual. I wish we could say the same thing, although this year, so far, we haven't had a lot. However there are still at least 2 1/2 months of winter to look forward to. We were looking at some old pictures the other day, and after one big storm, the piles at the end of our driveway were at least 6' tall, and well over our heads.

Glad you're back! Pretty pics. I'm glad you didn't get more. Things were equally pretty, but with more consequence over here this weekend. I still don't have power at my house. I bundled up the day after our snowfall, too. The difference is, I was still at home!

only 3 inches?!? here on the other side of the pond that is a dusting!

I have witnessed 42 INCHES of snow in ONE storm!!! youwzers .... it slowed us down a tad then back to work we go. It has taken me over 90 minutes to go 17 miles in a snow storm ... not a happy camper believe me.